Nokia Lumia 1020 wireless charging case and camera grip case – Review

With every good phone there should exist a decent selection of official accessories. You know the sort, well made, nice colours and with features not found in third party accessories. The official Nokia Lumia 1020 cases are just that. I’ve got them both and here is my review showing you how they work and hopefully helping you make a purchasing decision. Starting with the slightly less interesting of the two the wireless charging shell.

Nokia Lumia 1020 wireless charging shell

I’m a recent convert to wireless charging, I now prefer my new devices to have it built in and if not at least to have a wireless charging accessory. Luckily for me the Lumia 1020 has a shell that you can clip on and joy of joys it comes in yellow.

Good Points

Available in the same nice colours

Qi compatible

Fill outs the camera hump a bit

All ports accessible

Bad Points

Not much protection offered

Bit flimsy and creaky

A bit costly

Design

The wireless charging case follows a similar design to the previous shells for devices like the Lumia 720 or the Lumia 925. It basically just clips over each one of the corners and to remove it’s just the reverse, it is really easy to fit and remove. The case feels just as nice at the Lumia 1020 itself and if anything it makes the whole package feel better as the protruding lense is evened out by the thickness of the wireless charging part.

It’s not all good though, the shell doesn’t really offer any protection at all, it protects the back from scratches and a section of each corner, face down or sideways drops and your asking for trouble. At the end of the day it’s just really for enabling wireless charging and a little bit of protection.

In Use

In use the wireless charging shell is pretty easy to use, slip the shell on and place your phone onto one of the nice Nokia charging pads I’ve got. That’s it really, the shell does easily come off and it doesn’t obscure any of the ports or sockets.

Nokia Lumia 1020 Camera grip

The Lumia 1020 Camera grip created some varying emotions within me when it was announced, varying from, “whoa that’s cool” right through to “whoa that’s stupid”. I knew I’d eventually have to buy one to see how it would fair in real life. So here it is, my review starting of course with my good and bad points.

Good Points

Really great idea

Extra battery power

Extra grip helps with one handed mode

Two stage shutter button helps with focusing

Bad Points

Makes using the Lumia as a phone feel odd

Tripod screw placement odd

Slightly fiddling to remove

Slightly overpriced

Speaker obscured when in use

Design

The Lumia 1020 camera grip is an odd looking piece of kit for a phone case, for a piece of plastic that makes your Lumia 1020 feel even more like a camera then it’s perfectly normal. Once you’ve figured out how to fit it is a really damn good idea and it feels really good in the hand, as long as you don’t try to use it as a phone.

The hump houses a 1020 mAh battery pack, a new shutter button, a tripod mount, a battery gauge and the charging socket.

In Use

In use the Lumia Camera grip is pretty good, there are three things that it’s good at. The first is the battery pack, it’s only 1020 mAh so don’t expect huge battery life, but it’s still quite handy to have on hand. The second good thing about the case is the fact that it allows you to easily take shots with one hand, the camera grip really lets you get a good grip. The third thing is how the shutter button makes it easy to do a half press to focus and then fully press to snap the shot. When I have the grip attached I’m always on the look out for something to capture.

Of course there are bad points to the camera grip, such as trying to remove is quite fiddly, the speaker on the bottom of the Lumia is obscured, using it as a phone with the grip on just feels odd and when you connect it to a tripod it’s all a little lopsided.

Conclusion

Overall the cases both have a purpose and they both do it well, although both do have niggling design quirks, like the speaker being obscured on the camera grip and the lack of screen protection on the charging shell. However the facts that they are official accessories that fit perfectly, they are the correct colour and they are extremely well made, all override and slight niggles over the design.

I got the Camera Grip from Amazon who seemed cheapest at the time, the wireless charging shell has now also dropped below £20 on Amazon as well.